“Cara, listen to me. I know you are young and you don’t want to be tied down right now and I don’t blame you. I would never force you to be either. But — and this is a big but — you have to remember that you and you alone hold enough power to keep the spells in force for another generation. “
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they caved.” Had she just said that out loud, and to her father? That kiss must have robbed her of her senses!
“Do you hear what you’re saying?”
“No offense, Tati,” she said, slipping into the old endearment, “but have you seen what happened to the vampires after the humans starting hanging out with them? They’re all… sparkly now.”
“Sparkly?”
“Yes, you know—they are all romanticized and pretty now, or at least on the movie screens. You won’t see an ugly vampire in the media these days.”
“That doesn’t mean they don’t exist. That just means people have decided to accept them as long as they think they’re hot.”
“Hot? Did you just say hot? Really?”
“I can be hip too.”
“No, no you can’t.” Cara retorted.
Nico’s lips twitched and then his heavy laughter rumbled out. “I see your point, but werewolves don’t sparkle. Nor could they, ever, if the spells broke, and you know it.”
“They would all be rogues, I know — I’ve heard the legends all my life.”
“They chose to be rogues in the beginning, Cara. At least, the originals did. It was not for them that we had pity — don’t you ever forget it.” Nico sighed. “Right now I’m tired and I have a lot to do before I can haul these old weary bones into bed. Go to bed; I’ll see you tomorrow.”
His dismissal stung. She knew she’d displeased him… but when was she going to be able to please herself?
CHAPTER 6
This was stupid and Sebastian knew it. He didn’t really care though. He had to see her again. He preferred to ride his bike these days, but he’d not given up his car either. He knew that if he showed up on his jet black and heavily chromed 1969 Triumph Bonneville T120R Classic, she might wonder about it, and him.
He was sure that the Tribe knew there was a new club in town. Whether they had figured out who was riding in it was anyone’s guess, but he doubted that Nico was too foolish to figure it out. He’d met the man a few times, always while in wolf-form, and he’d never seen anything foolish about the Rom.
He pulled his sleek Corvette up to the curb and waited. He’d seen Cara going into that particular building a few times before and his patience was soon rewarded. She came strolling out of the pastry shop with a brown bag in her hand.
Her lean and elegant body was clad in a bright yellow sweater, tight blue jeans and pixie boots with almost impossibly thin heels that looked like ice picks. She had a bright scarf wound around her throat and her lips were that same bright berry hue that he’d noticed the night before.
His heart gave a powerful throb and so did his crotch. He was beginning to wish his own jeans weren’t so tight. He stepped out of the car and her face lit up with pleasure that quickly gave way to caution.
“I thought I would stop and ask if you needed rescuing from a rogue or jerk, even if that jerk was me,” Sebastian said.
His smile disarmed her. “You were a bit of an ass. I thought that you were braver than that.”
“I make it a habit not to interfere between a man and his woman. I am assuming you two aren’t together?” He knew they weren’t, but if she said they were to make him go away, then he would do that too, as much as he didn’t want to.
Cara’s heart slammed into her ribs. Excitement poured through her. She should not be doing this. Of all the times in her life to decide to be a rebel, now was the wrong one! But she had to, she just had to. The almost electric pull between the two of them was too strong to resist.
Sebastian looked incredible in his fitted jeans and black shirt. A heavy silver necklace lay against his tanned throat and a silver cuff rested against his right wrist. She could see the fine golden hairs on his arm, outlined by the sun and the suggestion of a bulge at the front of his pants. Her chest tightened painfully and it took a long moment to speak.
“He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t blame you for bailing out. Ion can be a real…well, you saw.”
“Ion?”
“Yes. His dad’s into science.” She said with a nonchalance that she hoped would keep him from asking any further questions. Usually that quip did just that. It seemed to work because he only asked, “Are you going somewhere in particular?”